1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is superchargers used on automobiles engines which also have flywheels connected to the crankshaft of the engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in superchargers for automobile engines, especially in the consumer area. Automobile superchargers which deliver air to the engine for mixture with gasoline have fallen into two broad classes, the first and original type being that which derives energy for compressing the air from the engine crank shaft. The second type of supercharger, which draws on recent high temperature technology, places a turbine in the exhaust of the automobile engine as a source of energy to drive an air compressor, and is usually termed a turbosupercharger. With either type, a larger than usual amount of air is delivered to the automobile carburetor (or to the intake manifold for a fuel injection system) and ultimately to the cylinders.
An example of the first type of supercharger is illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,580, to Hilfiker, wherein a rotor in a round chamber employs slidable vanes to make contact with the interior periphery of the chamber. As the rotor rotates, air is drawn in and then expelled in the process of being pressurized. The device of Hilfiker is so constructed as to make use of the supercharger selectable. When the supercharger is not being used and when the automobile engine is idling, the rotor is situated at the center of the round chamber. By such means, air drawn into and discharged by the supercharger is not compressed, or if compressed, then compressed very little. However, when the supercharger is operating fully, the rotor is moved off center to an eccentric position so that more air enters the chamber whereupon the slideable vanes in the rotor compress the air and discharge it into the automobile cylinders. The rotor of the supercharger is driven by the engine crank shaft.
A second patent of the first type is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,734, to Horiuchi, wherein a supercharger having an air compressor of somewhat conventional design is driven off the engine flywheel. The supercharger is, however, a separate device apart from the engine and receives its rotational energy by means of pulleys and belts, one pulley being the engine flywheel.
A third patent of the first type is illustrated by the U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,622, to Suzuki, where again the supercharger is a separate device situated above the transmission of the automobile and having an air compressor driven by a belt trained around a sprocket fixed to the transmission. As a result, the supercharger operates only when the clutch of the automobile is engaged.
The second type of supercharger, as referenced above, places the high temperature turbine, such as one having blades made with ceramics or high temperature steel, directly in the path of the engine exhaust gases. The central shaft of this turbosupercharger is connected to a conventional type air compressor which compresses the air prior to entrance into the engine carburetor or intake manifold.
As the present art stands, available superchargers are quite expensive and rather complicated to manufacture. As a consequence, if means and methods could be found to utilize present existing elements of an automobile engine and power train following the engine to construct the supercharger, the expense of superchargers may be reduced considerably. It is to this end that the subject invention is directed.